It’s pretty illuminating in terms of the personal struggles with faith some people have before ultimately renouncing it. I’m going to admit that I didn’t have a real crisis of faith like this – I was raised in a very reform Jewish household and figured out I was an atheist on my own with very little fuss.

But the interesting point this article makes that I think is pretty much universal is that atheists aren’t necessarily overjoyed at the idea that there isn’t a benevolent, all-powerful god watching over them who will reward the pure and punish the guilty. Needless to say, it would be cool to be able to actually believe that. An atheist is simply someone who finds that wonderful idea impossible to reconcile with the world he or she perceives. An atheist is not someone who goes around trying to disbelieve God because he or she hates God with a passion.